Hi--

I am looking for something to keep air and critters out of my 25 lb bags of flour, sugar etc that is food friendly. Any good suggestions? I would prefer someone on the net or that does mail order, as I live in the boonies. : )

-- storybook farm (mumaw@socket.net), November 17, 2000

Answers

We use 5 gallon buckets, labeled with a grease pencil on the lids, or glass gallon jars. Both can be found for free at some restaurants or food service businesses. Or you can buy the buckets or large drums new from Azure standard. www.azurefarm.com

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), November 17, 2000.

just make sure that the buckets have only been used for food stuff. Otherwise it can pick up chemicals

-- STAN (sopal@net-port.com), November 17, 2000.

Grocerers and Deli's get pickles and such in 5 gal containers. "Offer" to take the containers. Sometimes they have to pay to recycle them.

-- Kathy (catfish@bestweb.net), November 17, 2000.

Sometimes hardward stores sell plastic 5 gallon buckets with lids, they run 99 cents each here. Look at the recycle code on the bottom. If it's a 2 or lower, it should be safe for food - at least that's what was reported on the news. Of course I've bought baby bottles with a 7 code which is bad as it supposedly can release toxins when heated. Also, bakeries have lots of buckets they give away or sell cheap.

-- Anne Tower (bbill@wtvl.net), November 17, 2000.

You can't tell just by the recycle code. That says what kind of plastic it's made of, but there are other factors that can effect food safety.

==>paul

-- paul (p@ledgewood-consulting.com), November 17, 2000.

We pour flour into trash compactor bag, close tightly, then put that bag into regular garbage bag, not leaf bag, seal tightly, then into plastic bucket and put lid on tightly. We've used buckets that had held pickles, and still smelled of pickles, but no harm to the flour, Also wash out powdered detergent buckets well and use them.

-- Barbara Fischer (bfischer54@hotmail.com), November 18, 2000.

If you do use the buckets you might want to consider using about 1/4 lb of dry ice to drive out the oxegen and make it even better to store your grains. gail

-- gail missouri ozarks (gef123@hotmail.com), November 18, 2000.